Warning systems may be used on aircraft to issue alerts when the aircraft encounters conditions hazardous to safety. For example, a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) may be used to decrease the risk of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents by issuing alerts when a hazardous terrain situation is detected. Warning systems may be equipped with features that permit pilots to inhibit alerts. For example, a TAWS system may have a terrain inhibit switch that permits a pilot to inhibit TAWS alerts. Such a switch may be useful to avoid nuisance from alerts when deliberately operating near terrain.
Once an alert of a warning system has been inhibited, it may be appropriate for the pilot to un-inhibit the alert when flight conditions change, such as when the aircraft is flying into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) from visual meteorological conditions (VMC). However, remembering to un-inhibit the alert may require the pilot to adequately monitor the situation and perform the action at the appropriate time. Pilots may forget to perform the action due to multitasking, distraction, task interruption, absence of cues, or other factors.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods for preventing alerts from warning systems from remaining inhibited if the pilot does not un-inhibit them when it is appropriate to do so. The present disclosure is directed to addressing one or more of these above-referenced challenges. The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art, or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section.